Thursday, January 08, 2009

If you're a Pfanatic like me you're probably anxious for any news of Michelle Pfeiffer's first truly exciting lead role in a decade (the last drama she herself carried was the hit thriller What Lies Beneathin 2000). Making Chéri even more special is that it's a romantic costume drama and she hasn't done one of those since Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993).

Chéri, which briefly flirted with the idea of coming out in December 2008 along with 97 other movies, is now set for a UK release in March...much less crowded there. First release date announcements rarely hold so it probably doesn't mean much aside from the obvious, that the film is moving out of post-production and into the marketing/release/planning stage.

US bred Oscar watchers may blanch at the the notion of a spring release from the reunited Dangerous Liaisons team. Spring is no good for Oscar goes the groupthink. But even if this March UK release date sticks it's not neccessarily indicative of a lack of quality or faith. For one thing the UK isn't as beholden to December prestige glutting and some movies wait on the US release date even if they're opened everywhere else. Plus: the Best Actress category is statistically kinder to early year releases than any of the other top 8 Oscar categories.

Some of you may well be asking

Are you, life long Pfanatic, setting yourself up for disappointment expecting Pfeiffer to finally get her statue next year?

The answer is no I am not because I don't expect her to.

Though I fantasize about Pfeiffer winning the Oscar approximately every 5th hour of even numbered days in years with 12 months in them, I've never really expected it to take place past that dreadful 1989 loss. I am not expecting a podium moment for Chéri but a nomination sure would go a long way to helping me forgive the Academy for their relatively shabby treatment of one of the most important silver screen goddesses of all time. So I'll cross my fingers but expect Beelzebub to pick up a third for Amelia instead whilst Pfeiffer is snubbed. Prepare yourself for the worst and then celebrate if the fates are kinder than "worst".

Harumph! That isn't what I thought I'd learned from Happy-Go-Lucky and my Poppy obsession. Back to the drawing board for this eternal pessimist.*

24 comments:

I miss Pfeiffer too. Her Catwoman is the second best Batman character ever portrayed in live action films, acter Ledger's Joker.

Hey i want to pass this neews: check this link http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/001index.html. It's the nominees list for the GG's in their website. If u check close, you'll see that Anne Hathaway has already won for Best Actress in a drama.

Stephen Frears comes from a big Festival hit translated into Oscar gold (The queen), so I expect him to pop up in Cannes or Venice main line-up with Chéri. This UK release approaches him even more to the Croisette, where he was JURY PRESIDENT two years ago. Remember: Almodovar's films always open in March in Spain and it doesn't hurt their chances in Cannes competition or at the Oscars. But, unfortunately, a Volpi Cup in Venice would could be THE SHOT for Pfeiffer's run to the Kodak Theatre. Just ask Cate Blanchett, Helen Mirren, David Strathairn, Imelda Staunton, Sean Penn, Julianne Moore, Javier Bardem...

I really don't understand your Pfanaticism. Okay, maybe Michelle is a good actress, but there are just so many in the business who are much, much better. A snub for her Catwoman? Really? More like a Razzie snub IMHO.

nat would be your pfeiffer top 10 go on we will let you be a big pfan on this post,does she have a top 3 worst,i can't think of 1 perf i don't like maybe the story os uf simply for that overacted final scene.

Speaking of Happy-Go-Lucky, I believe that one was released in March or April or May or some such in the UK, and that hasn't seemed to hinder its oscar chances this year (I remember this because I was in London in June when it suddenly disappeared from theaters, thus ruining my chances at seeing it early).

If Chéri is released in spring in the UK, that probably means fall in the US, and that probably means oscar.

Pfeiffer's catwoman still remains the best FEMALE performance in any comic adaptation. I would put her catwoman just slightly behind Heath's Joker. And you're right, no one else comes close to those two.

I can't wait for Cheri. Well I can't wait for any Pfeiffer- ever. I hope it gets good notice, and brings her back into the awards circuit.

I will never get over the fact she lost the Oscar to Tandy back in '89.

I can't over the fact that so many less worthy actresses have Oscars but not Pfeiffer.

After what happened this year with Che, what I fear most is a distribution problem. I know Che and Chéri only share the first syllable and other than that, they have nothing in common, but who'd have thought Soderbergh's film would find so many distribution problems after Cannes? And given what happened to Pfeiffer's I Could Never Be Your Woman....That's my worst fear.

Once distribution is granted, I'll begin to dream. If the result is just half as good as it was in Dangerous Liaisons, I won't care about Amelia, even if Clint himself drags for the part. I just want to enjoy and worship Pfeiffer on a large screen in a good film again.

And regarding awards, if the movie is at least a decent one, I think we'll hear her name repeatedly as we've been hearing Streep and Winslet this year much before anyone could see their movies, just based on the material and the names.